Fresh options as 11 new restaurants open in Delaware
It's been a good year to be a restaurant patron. New places to dine and shop for food continue to pop up across the state, and more are planned in 2024.
In case you missed it, here's what has opened lately and what's still to come:
La Baguette French Bakery
33323-31 E. Chesapeake St., Village of Five Points, Lewes; labaguettede.com
Dover-based bakery La Baguette opened its second location in Lewes in November. It takes over the space in the Village of Five Points that had formerly been the bakery for A Touch of Italy.
Chef Ludovic Bezy is 100% French, while his wife and co-owner, Anita Wheeler-Bezy, is a self-described "Air Force brat" who grew up in both France and America.
The couple met and married in the Champagne region, and she now holds dual French American citizenship.
Bezy graduated from a French culinary school in the 1980s. The couple moved to the States in the 1990s, where he served as Chef de Cuisine at the former Michele's in Dover Downs for about seven years.
They opened La Baguette, a longtime dream, in Dover in 2017. It's a busy spot, with great reviews across platforms. They serve Rise Up coffee and Wheeler-Bezy said their eclairs are popular, as are their beef bourguignon sandwiches.
Coming Soon: Corner Cove
Projected to open by the end of December at 410 Hockessin Corner, Hockessin.
A long-vacant and cavernous hall in Hockessin Corner will soon come back to life — as a two-story restaurant and bar with local oysters, steamed crab, cheap beer, red-sauce pasta and flame-cooked pizza.
Michael Rocco, a longtime veteran of Delaware restaurants whose most recent project was Bogle Cove Oyster House in Pike Creek, hopes to open Corner Cove by the end of December 2023 in Hockessin Corner, near Back Burner restaurant. The 3,800-square-foot space boasts two bars and a balcony and capacity for 100 diners.
“When people walk in, their mouth drops,” he said. “It’s all exposed wood beams. I’ve got a fireplace in there. When you go upstairs, you’re looking at actual horse stables."
Corner Cove's scratch-made pizzas will come in at $14 for a large, and $7 for a personal. Rocco also plans $3 domestic beer and always-available buck-a-shuck oysters. Corner Cove will also offer Delaware oysters from the Inland Bays, Rocco said.
Among Italian American dishes, Rocco plans marinara made the old-fashioned way, Italian wedding soup, pasta and clams, and crab spaghetti the way his family used to make it in Philadelphia. Seafood at Corner Cove will include classic preparations: steamed crabs and crab cakes, clams casino, oysters Rockefeller and fried oyster sandwiches, and of course oysters on the half-shell.
332 BBQ & Hill Donut Co. & Pancake House
1845 Marsh Road, Brandywine Hundred; 302-308-3162; 322bbq.com
A Rosenfeld Deli's and Big Fish Market in the Plaza III shopping center in Brandywine Hundred suddenly closed its doors in October 2022, surprising many customers. The business had operated for only about five months.
In October, another dual concept took its place. 332 BBQ & Hill Donut Co., which has sites in Swedesboro and Mullica Hill, New Jersey, opened a location in the Delaware space.
Breakfast offerings include handcrafted brioche doughnuts, buttermilk sourdough pancakes, brisket hash, candied bacon omelets, fried chicken, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, and chocolate mousse pancakes.
For barbecue lovers, there's slow-smoked brisket, ribs, pulled chicken and pork, smoked salmon, and smoked housemade black pepper kielbasa. Sandwiches include the Spicy Cheddar Pork Burger, a double stacked griddle smashed patty, with spicy mayonnaise, pickled jalapenos, cheddar cheese, and slow-smoked pulled pork served on a brioche cheddar doughnut roll.
The location has a bar serving beer and cocktails, as well as a butcher shop where patrons can purchase dry-aged porterhouse and ribeye steaks along with deli ham, turkey breast, roast beef, bacon, beef patties and seafood like shrimp and tuna.
Customers can dine in or takeout.
Tex-Mex Tequila
4737 Concord Pike, Brandywine Hundred, 302-592-4164, texmextequila.com
At the Concord Mall, Tex Mex Tequila opened in early November with a specialty in … wait for it … Tex-Mex food and tequila.
There are tacos and burritos and enchiladas, of course. There is also a dazzling array of nachos. But as in Texas Mexican food, the restaurant’s menu displays a heartening devotion to meats that grill and sizzle. That means of course carne asada and ribeye steaks, pollo asado and six different ways to grill up some shrimp.
There are meaty stone-bowl molcajetes, and sizzling multi-meat and cheese alambre platters the way they do it from Texas to Mexico City. There is also an unholy menagerie of fajitas from beef to chicken to shrimp to something called “Hawaiian.”
But when reached on the phone to ask about their specialties, they had a simple answer: tequila. That’ll include margaritas, palomas and all manner of agave spirit. The restaurant opened without a liquor license, but as of mid-December, the tequila is finally pouring.
Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. weekends.
Milan's Real Philly Cheesesteaks
813 Governors Place, Bear, 215-456-0988, milansrealphilly.com.
A Philly-style cheesesteak shop called Milan’s Real Philly Cheesesteaks and Hoagies quietly opened in early November at Governor's Square between the former Kmart and ShopRite.
Or maybe not so quietly: One of the shop's very first customers, it turned out, was hip-hop impresario and unofficial Philadelphia ambassador Charlie Mack. Mack's visit was captured in a number of videos on the restaurant’s Instagram page.
The cheesesteak menu at Milan's includes your everyday beef steaks, but also some variations: Buffalo chicken. Fish. Mushroom steaks, and pizza steaks and something called a "three cheese" steak. Hoagies, alongside Italian, offer rarities like a corned beef edition.
As for Charlie Mack? Mack ordered a fish hoagie, a North and West Philly specialty at Muslim-owned restaurants in particular.
He declared the rendition at Milan’s to be “spot on.”
The Secret Sauce Thai Kitchen
18949 Coastal Highway (Route 1), Rehoboth Beach, 302-703-6626; thesecretsaucethaikitchen.com
Minh's Bistro, a former Rehoboth Beach Vietnamese restaurant owned by Thinh Pham and operating in the space for six years off Route 1 next to Rosenfeld's Jewish Deli near Route 24, permanently closed its doors this past fall.
In a letter on Minh's website, Pham wrote "the new owners replacing Minh's Bistro will be bringing a new and exciting variety of Asian tastes to our area. Opening in a short time, the new restaurant is named The Secret Sauce Thai Kitchen, and I look forward to enjoying the experience of dining with them myself!"
Thai dishes include Tom Yum and Tom Kha soups; grilled chicken satay; red, yellow, green and pineapple curries' pad Thai; and vegan Pad kee Mao. It also serves beer, sake, cocktails and wine.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner most days, but it is closed on Tuesdays. It is also closed for 90 minutes from 3 to 4:30 p.m. (between lunch and dinner service).
First Watch
139 Grove Lane, Newark; 302.451.9173; firstwatch.com/locations/newark
In early December, the Florida-based Daytime Dining restaurant chain serving breakfast, brunch and lunch, opened a new location in The Grove at Newark. The restaurant, in about a 4,000-square-foot space, seats more than 170 people and has dining outdoors under a covered patio.
First Watch has had locations in New Castle County for at least five years. It also has had recent restaurant openings in Greenville and Wilmington.
There are more than 500 First Watch restaurants in 29 states, and the restaurant concept is majority-owned by Advent International, one of the world’s largest private equity firms.
The menu includes Avocado Toast, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Million Dollar Bacon and juices made with Fuji apple, kale and beet.
Five times a year, First Watch offers a revolving seasonal menu. The new restaurant will offer its first seasonal menu in March 2024.
It's open daily from 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Visit firstwatch.com.
The Juice Joint 2.0
102 S. Union St., Wilmington; thejuicejoint.de
The shop, which started at the Wilmington Riverfront and later operated a kiosk at the Chancery Market in downtown Wilmington, has moved to Union Street and held a ribbon-cutting event at its new store on Dec. 7.
Owner Lanice Wilson said customers visiting The Juice Joint 2.0 will experience a plant-based health and wellness-focused restaurant. It offers cold-pressed juices, smoothies, and smoothie bowls.
Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.Tuesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
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Lasher's
32497 Long Neck Road in Millsboro, in the former Ada's Picnic building.
The restaurant's tagline is "Homecooked From the Heart." The menu features a full line of deli sandwiches, pulled pork, barbecue and ribs. There are items like gumbo, Creole pasta and collard greens, as well as tacos. The restaurant's grab-and-go case is stocked with deli items, desserts and specials.
Co-owners Lisa and Sean Lasher partnered with another company to open the restaurant, Lisa Lasher said. The property is owned by Tortella Realty 9 LLC, a business registered to Al Tortella, who also owns Paradise Grill and other restaurants in Long Neck.
Lasher's is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Wawa (Glasgow)
120 Corporate Drive, Glasgow
As the Delaware convenience store wars continue to heat up, Delaware has yet another Wawa. This one, in Glasgow at the still-under-construction Pencader Corporate Center, celebrated its grand opening Friday, Dec. 15.The new Wawa at 120 Corporate Blvd. is part of an ambitious plan by developer Reybold Venture Group for a 125-room, five-story hotel, a three-story office building, a restaurant and retail building and a daycare between Corporate Boulevard and Executive Drive. The most recent plans were recorded in May. A number of additional Wawa plans are still in the works.
The new Glasgow Wawa will feature Wawa food. You know: the stuff you find at Wawas.
Open every day, at all times, maybe forever.
Next Gen Dunkin'
1802 Faulkland Road., Prices Corner, 302-999-8077, dunkindonuts.com
At a Dec. 2 grand opening, Dunkin' (previously known as Dunkin' Donuts until 2019), officially opened its doors to the future in its Prices Corner location at 1802 Faulkland Road.
What's the future look like? Mobile apps and nitro, apparently. Dunkin' is also trumpeting a new design with a "new, warm interior color palette" and "atmospheric lighting." The future of Dunkin' is also a bit romantic.
If it sounds familiar, it should. New Castle County already has at least a couple "Next Gen" Dunkins, one in Elsmere at 1112 Kirkwood Highway and one in Bear at 1200 Pulaski Highway.
The wall at the Prices Corner location says "Wilmington runs on Dunkin'" — in homage to the fact that Dunkin' is as confused as most people about where Wilmington starts and stops. But for the record, the Bear location says "Bear." The Elsmere location says "Elsmere." People of Prices Corner: Rise up! The location is designed for speed, self-service and a fast in-and-out experience. This means a drive-thru, a dedicated mobile pickup area for people who order on the app, and a dedicated mobile ordering lane in the drive-thru.
In addition to your usual coffee, you can also get nitro-infused cold brew only at the Next Gen locations. If you're wondering why you care? Tiny bubbles. Nitro has tiny bubbles. Like champagne, but it's coffee.
Open daily from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2861 and follow her on X (Twitter) @pattytalorico Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: New restaurants coming to Delaware: What's opened, what's coming soon
